When the crossties of a railroad are to be replaced, selected ones of the crossties are individually replaced without removing the rails from the railroad. Usually, the tie plates that hold the rails on the crossties are removed from an old crosstie, the rails urged in an upward direction to relieve the downward force on the old crosstie, and then the old crosstie is pushed or pulled laterally from beneath the rails. A new replacement crosstie can then be inserted in the space vacated by the old removed crosstie.
As illustrated in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,400, rail mounted vehicles have been developed for removing old crossties from railroad beds. The vehicle has a crosstie kicker on one of its sides which functions to urge or "kick" a crosstie laterally beneath the tracks, while at the other side of the vehicle a clamp mechanism grasps the protruding end of a partially removed crosstie and pulls the crosstie on out from beneath the rails.
While the prior art illustrates various means for ejecting old crossties from railroad beds, there is still a need for effective equipment that will not only eject old crossties from a railroad bed but will also expediently insert new crossties in the space vacated by an old crosstie.